Erecruiting Guide: Best of Social Media Recruiting

In 2011, social media recruiting took giant leaps. Everyday more people find talent through social media. We live in a connected world. And tomorrow, the world will be more connected. The role of social media in the recruiting process process will continue to grow. Here are the ten best blog post of the past year on how to greatly improve your recruiting through the most dominant social media channels.

In our top ten countdown, let’s start with beginners. The first four posts are about getting your feet wet on the major social media channels. Numbers 10 – 7 introduce you to best recruiting practices on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. The next five posts (numbers 6 – 2) discuss specific techniques to simply and deeply connect with talent on social networks. And top post discusses how to manage your online talent pool. Without further ado:

Social Media Recruiting Practices and Techniques

10.  Twitter for Recruiting
It’s no secret that Twitter is an information search engine. With more than 155 million tweets per day, it is now the place for breaking news. Even the raid on Osama bin laden was accidentally live tweeted by someone who was complaining about loud helicopter noises in a remote area of Pakistan. He later realized via Twitter once the news broke of the raid, how exactly he had been involved.

Twitter may not be your sole candidate and recruiting solution but it can greatly help you. Recruiters and hiring managers can also leverage recruiting on Twitter as a Social Media candidate source in a number of different ways.

9.  Hiring & Recruiting on Facebook

Facebook is now the most visited place on the web, outpacing Google late 2010. As candidates spend more time on the world’s most popular social networking site, it makes sense that recruiters would use Facebook for hiring and recruitment. As part of our Erecruiting series here at SmartRecruiters, I’m focusing on differently recruiting and sourcing methods across the internet.

Because Facebook is a relatively closed network it can make direct sourcing a challenge.  Depending on the users security settings, visitors are allowed certain access making sourcing on this platform somewhat difficult.  Even still, there are ways to grow your candidate pool, source, and fill positions recruiting on Facebook.

8.  How to Recruit on LinkedIn

Last week LinkedIn became the second most popular social network on the planet, surpassing the once-upon-a-time-King of social media, MySpace, as the premier social network.  LinkedIn is quite possibly the darling of recruiting and candidate sourcing for professional recruiters across the globe.  Nearly 87% of employers, who hire through internet recruiting, go to the site first to search and source for candidates that fit their job requisition requirements.

Like any job board or social network, finding top talent is the top priority of erecruiting. Companies often use sites as a means of sourcing for just in time to fill positions, which is fine, but there are many ways to skin a cat. Through connections, Questions and Answers setions, Groups, Job Postings on the boards and  through statuses, and more, recruiting on LinkedIn is essential.

7.  Recruiting on Google+ (Google Plus)

Google+, Google’s social media platform is the fastest growing social network in the history of well, social networks. Since Google released it in beta July 26th, the new social media platform created a media frenzy as bloggers, social media influencers and the media covered the release of the platform like never before. It provides recruiters and hiring managers another wide channel to recruit, source, and search.

Google+ offers a unique opportunity for recruiters to blaze new trails and connect with candidates in different ways. Users add individuals they wish to engage by categorizing them into circles, which they create.  Through circles, one can contact individuals or groups privately or publicly to recruit on Google+.

6.  4 Ways to Recruit and Build Communities on LinkedIn
Think of LinkedIn as an online rolodex where a recruiter or hiring manager now has access to over 150 million professionals from across the globe.   Some of these professionals are passive as well as active job search candidates.  These professional databases are accessible on the web typically  by increasing your social media connections and footprint.

To attract talent, it’s essential to build connections and develop relationships. Within LinkedIn, maintaining a level of engagement with their connections is equally important. This requires maintaining a presence in their connections “stream.” The execution of your LinkedIn recruiting strategy hinges on the development of this connections “stream.

5.  Recruiting with Facebook Ads

Facebook’s ad network offers recruiters a unique opportunity to target job advertisements to Facebook users by keyword, education, location, and even age.  It’s tools like this that allow recruiters to engage their prime audience for $20-40 per day and be effective.

Facebook users are providing detailed information and news about their own interests, hobbies, education, and activities throughout the day and at staggering rates.  The average Facebook user now spends 15 hours and 33 minutes per month on Facebook. Facebook’s ads capitalize on their members and the information that is voluntarily submitted by offering advertisers very small and specific areas in which to target for not a lot of money. To keep up with the competition for top talent, companies must recruit with Facebook ads.

4.  Driving Your Recruitment Efforts With Facebook Fan Pages

Like any website or profile page, a Facebook Fan Page is a marketing and communication channel allowing the company to directly connect with individuals who have opted into receiving a company’s message. But a Facebook Fan Page is more than just a communication medium serving as a company’s front porch and customer service platform to engage the more than 750 million Facebook users.

A Facebook Fan Page can serve as a recruiting and sourcing tool just like a company blog or Twitter allowing you opportunities to directly engage and educate your target candidate market. In this social world, companies ought to advertise your jobs on your Facebook Fan Page. It’s just how to recruit with your Facebook Fan Page.

3.  5 Social Recruiting Alternatives to Facebook

After the rise of Google+, Facebook has fought back and reaffirmed its status as the social network. . In case you hadn’t heard, Facebook launched some major changes in their social networking platform.  I bet you’ve used your allotted two thirds of day every week alone understanding, learning, and organizing your Facebook timeline and group pages.

There is more to recruiting than a Facebook Timeline. This post is about what Facebook doesn’t have. Social Media is about diversity. Here are social recruiting techniques that go beyond Facebook and into forums, chat rooms, Ning Communities, member databases, Myspace, and more.

2.  How to Recruit on Twitter with Hashtags

While Twitter offers a platform that allows for many types of search to increase the viral spread of content, even by non-members, hashtags in particular are one of the best sources to find engaged users by particular topic or interest.

Twitter allows for users to be contacted with no prior relationship.  Searching for candidates via hashtags can net you a solid list of job search and recruiting leads long before your candidate has responded to a resume-mining database like CareerBuilder or Monster. Hashtag feeds on Twitter allow companies to go beyond their audience (followers) when posting, and when reading hashtagged Tweets, companies can target thought leaders in the industry. To recruit on Twitter, recruit with hashtags.

1.  How to Build Effective Recruitment “Talent Pools”

Pools in themselves are small yet separate pockets of standing water and with the internet, these talent pools and pockets of isolated candidates do not effectively exist. Think of targeted talent within social media as your talent ocean

Social recruiting is step one of gathering talent. This means building your online brand throughFacebook Fan Pages, Tweets, and your company’s LinkedIn profile. Talent oceans are built on the foundations of establishing value, building relationships and having conversations. And that means understanding and knowing what your candidates want just as much as what your company and hiring managers do. Collaborative Hiring. Build Talent Oceans.

 

With the advice from these ten posts, your social media recruitment strategy will improve. In this evolving world, either you social media recruiting strategy improves, or the competition hires the best talent. Remember (and take note of the info graphic below) the role of social media in the recruiting process process will only continue to grow. SmartRecruiters free recruiting software offers integration with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Hiring Made Easy.

Photo Credit Wordle, Tech n’ Marketing, BlogingBloging, The Outsourcing Company, Internet techies, Michiel Gaasterland, YellowBrickRoad, Jobvite Recruiting Survey, Planet for Life, Mashable